Swansea City’s puppet masters in conflict with themselves Sunday, 17th Dec 2023 11:00 by Harrison Evans We welcome yet another fine talent who has aspirations to be recognised for his cooly placed prose within Swansea Independent. Harrison Evans is a real talent, and becomes one of our contributors alongside Liam Walters, Trystan Bending and Andrew Winfield. All are a part of the new Indy era, and we welcome you all on the journey. The start of the 23/24 season for Swansea City to put it simply has been a shambles. With so much change behind the scenes at the club in the summer, perhaps it's no surprise. The appointment of Andy Coleman as Chairman, Paul Watson as sporting director, and Michael Duff as head coach, three new faces who since have undoubtedly had a massive impact on the club. And although these changes were intended to improve the club and streamline decision-making. In reality, both on and off the pitch they have resulted in a football club that has completely lost its identity. A club that is becoming totally unrecognisable in comparison to the Swansea City we know and love. On the pitch troubles - Michael Duff Andy Coleman’s statement regarding the sacking of Duff even notes the criticalness of the Swansea Identity to the club. Showing how the criticisms of the play style underpinned the sacking of Michael Duff. Yet looking back at Duff’s appointment again, there was no emphasis on keeping in line with Swansea’s identity, rather what we saw in Duff was his winning capabilities. Therefore, in terms of who is accountable for the on-the-pitch unrecognisable Swansea City, does it really all fall on the shoulders of Michael Duff? Not just on the pitch Look no further than the signing of Yanick Bolasie aged 34 on a short-term deal. Brought in to ‘bolster’ the forward options, the signing is extremely out of character for the club. What happened to giving first-team opportunities to academy players that have had vast benefits for the club in recent times? Daniel James, Joe Rodon, and Oli Mcburnie, prime examples of academy players given a chance, excelled, before later being sold, to an extent offsetting the economic damage of relegation. Bolasie, apart from providing a new song for the fans, has so far provided nothing to the team. And if anything is just removing any first-team opportunities for attacking academy players. Another player, Kristian Pederson, signed in the summer aged 29, has featured just 4 times so far this season. The left-back hasn’t been on the pitch for the Swans since 24th October, while he has been totally left out of the squad for the last 6 games. The fact no one is questioning where Pederson is, highlights the mess of our summer recruitment. Consequently, it is no surprise to see Paul Watson, who has to the best of our knowledge been behind these transfers, also subject to criticism by the fanbase. Potentially you could argue like Duff he is also the wrong fit for our football club. Frankly, it’s hard to see how his type of recruitment would fuel a ‘Swansea Way’ style of football. Having said this, Paul Watson didn't just fall out of the sky and start running the show, he was selected and appointed by the owners. It's all good scrutinising the work of Paul Watson, but arguably more importantly where is the scrutiny of those above him who put him there in the first place? Who really is pulling the strings ? Kristian Fletcher joined the Swansea Academy until January from DC United back in September. The 18-year-old has since scored 18 goals for the U21s, a place in the first team for Fletcher had looked inevitable. Both Paul Watson and Michael Duff had told fans they expected Fletcher to make the step up to the first team back in October. But Jason Levien at the end of November sharply put an end to this possibility stating his desire for Fletcher to return to his beloved DC United. It's blatantly clear in regards to this situation the level of influence Levien still holds at the club. Just another example of Levien overriding the desires of his employees on the ground at Swansea. After all, Levien did say himself in an ‘interview’ with the Swansea City Supporters Trust after last season's disastrous January transfer window, “We govern by consensus, in the (ownership) group because we all have a lot of skin in the game.” Even with Andy Coleman taking centre stage of control at the football club in May, Jason Levien clearly hasn't given up his say in the decision-making at the club. Further to this, in terms of who gave Paul Watson his role at Swansea, it's almost certainly the actions of Jason Levien. Andy Coleman had only been announced one month before Watson, while he also held no prior knowledge of working in football. Highlighting the level of power Levien still holds within the club. Now while this might be justified seeing as he is the majority owner, but where are the opportunities for accountability and scrutiny of Levein’s decision making? There is none. He is simply hiding behind Andy Coleman, using him as a means to make decisions without taking responsibility for when it goes wrong, like it has with both Duff and Watson. Looking at the situation at DC United you can properly understand the sheer scale of Levien’s influence at Swansea. The similarities between the clubs are oddly predictable.  Drawing Parallels with Levien’s DC United It’s certainly no coincidence in the past 6 months both the Swans and DC have both seen the appointment of a sporting director/soccer officer. Paul Watson for Swansea joining back in June, while Ally Mackay joined DC more recently November 20. Clearly at the will of Jason Levien. Comparing the two clubs media announcements they are also relatively similar, distinguishing player recruitment as the most important aspect of the role. But the statement by DC interestingly reveals that, “Mackay will report directly to D.C. United Co-Chairmen Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.” Seen as Levien was behind the appointments at both of the clubs, you can only assume it's the same for Watson at Swansea whereby he reports back to Levien. This poses a significant contradiction to the statements earlier in the season of Coleman being in charge. Is it really that surprising though? Jason Levien’s whole tenure at the club has seen lie after lie. Going all the way back to 2017, at a Swans Trust AGM Levien proclaimed how he was “honoured to be sat in front of Swansea supporters and how this is the first of many meetings”. Fastforward 6 years, fans as well as the press have had zero opportunity to question Levien. Now if we judge Levien’s actions not his words, the scale of deception as well as the lack of interest, ambition and competence is blatantly obvious. Swansea City deserve better. While Andy Coleman does show a genuine interest and love for the club and fans, it only illuminates the lack of genuine interest and love for the club and fans by Jason Levien. The man who still as far as we understand holds majority ownership of the club. “Swansea’s failed pursuit of Chris Davies over the last two weeks only further reveals the incompetency off the pitch at the club. While a new manager is certainly important short term…. As outlined - the deep rooted problems at the club would still remain unaddressed. From the very top Swansea needs competent owners who are properly invested in Swansea, showing interest in the city, club and fans. With connection between the club and fans arguably at its lowest since relegation from the Premier League, the next managerial appointment could not be more important for the sustainability of the football club. Harrison on X - @Hye55897059   Photographs licensed from Reuters and Open Source Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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